Alyesha Wise Features in September
Alyesha Wise is an award-winning, published poet, educator & speaker from Camden, N.J. Currently residing in LA, she is the Director of Programming for Street Poets, Inc., an organization mostly serving juvenile injustice-involved youth with mentorship and arts programming. Alyesha has been featured on platforms and in publications such as OWN TV, BET, LA Times, Bustle, Afropunk, PBS, Buzzfeed and more. Other collabs include the ACLU, The Shabazz Center, The Nantucket Project, Brave New Films and the Google Interstellar Project. Ron Howard once wrote about Alyesha's work, "Very Powerful."
showtime:
Friday, September 27 @Wrigley Coffee
437 W Willow St. Long Beach, CA
Sign-ups start at 6:50pm Show is 7pm-9pm
This event is sponsored in part by LBArts the California Arts Council as part of the California Creative Corps.
Click to Return to The Definitive Soapbox 👆🏽
Mike ‘The Poet’ Sonksen Features in August
Mike Sonksen, aka Mike the PoeT, is an acclaimed poet, professor, journalist, historian and tour guide. He has published over 500 essays and poems, most recently two excerpts in Dear California: The Golden State in Diaries and Letters, edited by David Kipen (Stanford University Press, September 2023). He has delivered over 2,000 poetry readings, served as guest speaker at over 100 academic institutions, appeared on radio and television and hosted events in locations like Grand Performances and Getty Center. The second edition of his latest book, Letters To My City was published by Writ Large Press.
showtime:
Friday, August 30 @Wrigley Coffee
437 W Willow St. Long Beach, CA
Sign-ups start at 6:50pm Show is 7pm-9pm
This event is sponsored in part by LBArts the California Arts Council as part of the California Creative Corps.
Click to Return to The Definitive Soapbox 👆🏽
Matthew ‘Cuban’ Hernandez Features in July
Matthew ‘Cuban’ Hernandez is a poet, emcee, speaker, actor, and performance coach from Jacksonville, Florida. He has toured as far as Abu Dhabi and nearly every major city in the United States and Europe, performing, teaching and coaching poetry. A teaching artist for over 15 years, Matthew has spent the last ten years working in youth detention centers across Los Angeles County, currently serving as the Director of Camp Programming for Street Poets, Inc. In addition, he is a current Lead Teacher and Co-Founder of Spoken Literature Art Movement. Cuban has opened for artists such as Wu-Tang, performed for platforms such as BuzzFeed and NPR and even appeared on the award-winning television show, Better Things. Matthew is also a three time Southern Fried poetry slam champion and an award-winning poetry coach. Cuban’s favorite activity is making people feel great; sometimes he does this through hip hop and poetry.
showtime:
Friday, July 26 @Wrigley Coffee
Sign-ups start at 6:50pm Show is 7pm-9pm
This event is sponsored in part by LBArts the California Arts Council as part of the California Creative Corps.
Click to Return to The Definitive Soapbox 👆🏽
Ravina Wadhwani + Danielle Mitchell Feature in June
RAVINA is a South Asian American bestselling author, spoken word poet & licensed therapist based in Long Beach, CA. RAVINA was born and raised in the U.S. Virgin Islands. YELLOW is her debut full-length collection of poetry and prose published by World Stage Press & recipient of the Long Beach Best Poetry Collection of 2021.
RAVINA has performed poetry on nationally and internationally acclaimed stages including the House of Blues & the United Nations. Ravina is a touring and performing spoken word artist with the collective Never Speak Long Beach. RAVINA’s work as a poet has been featured in Yahoo Finance, the Sentinel news paper Los Angeles, Voyage LA, SHOUTOUT Atlanta, Rooted Minds, and Livewire’s literary journal at Fullerton College. Ravina is a Pushcart prize nominee & the first artist from the Virgin Islands to be pictured on a billboard for Clubhouse’s the Love Bomb Room’s one- year anniversary event in North Hollywood.
Ravina has taught poetry publishing through the University of Southern CA & Community Literature Initiative. In 2022, RAVINA founded the “Writing as Healing” workshop & mic, with the aim of shedding light on the intersection of creative writing and mental health, centering communities that have faced oppression, violence, and systemic issues. With a reach of over 300+ attendees, Ravina continues to host and curate this space on a bimonthly basis in Los Angeles.
Danielle Mitchell (she/her) is an intersectional feminist, writer, and teaching artist. Her Aries sun wants to you know she’s a 2023 California Creative Corps artist grantee, selected by the Long Beach Arts Council. As a Gemini rising she is proud to be the Founding Director of The Poetry Lab where she is committed to nurturing creative writers as they craft their learning journeys. Her moon in Sagittarius had a hand in developing Brick Box Paradox, her annual course all about prose poetry. In 2017, her prose poetry chapbook Makes the Daughter-in-Law Cry won the Clockwise Prize. The collection was praised by Gail Wronsky for "revealing new worlds of wonder and absurdity with a dark brilliance that is entirely her own." Danielle's work has been published in literary journals like Hayden’s Ferry Review, Vinyl, Four Way Review, Connotation Press, and others. She loves helping writers tap into their craft with radical self-compassion. Her Fifth House Virgo can help you take the first step on your revision journey with the Guide to Craft-Focused Feedback. Get the guide at thepoetrylab.com/guide.
showtime:
Friday, June 28 @Wrigley Coffee
437 W Willow St. Long Beach, CA
Sign-ups start at 6:50pm Show is 7pm-9pm
This event is sponsored in part by LBArts the California Arts Council as part of the California Creative Corps.
Click to Return to The Definitive Soapbox 👆🏽
Ashley Renee Features in May
Ashley Renee is an author, full-time writer and spoken word poet originally from Chicago. She currently hosts two open mics in LA, Pardon my Poetry and Little Vibe Friday.
showtime:
Friday, May 31 @Wrigley Coffee
437 W Willow St. Long Beach, CA
Sign-ups start at 6:50pm Show is 7pm-9pm
This event is sponsored in part by LBArts the California Arts Council as part of the California Creative Corps.
Click to Return to The Definitive Soapbox 👆🏽